my dear acquaintance (a happy new year)
by scaredofrobots
Summary: Harry has had the same resolution for four years. To kiss Ginny Weasley, his best mate. Listen to my dear acquaintance (a happy new year) by Regina Spektor for all the feels Birthday and New Years gift for the worlds most perfect human Beks the best.


_My dear acquaintance, it's so good to know you_

 _For strength of your hand_

 _That is loving and giving_

 _And a happy new year_

 _With love overflowing_

 _With joy in our hearts_

 _For the blessed new year_

On New Year's Eve, Harry Potter found himself in a familiar and frustrating dilemma. It was almost midnight and he still had not completed his one resolution. The same resolution he has made and broken for the past 5 years since he was sixteen years old. Every single year he would say to himself, "She'll be my New Years Kiss, that's the perfect time." And then every single year he would chicken out. Some Gryffindor he was. He couldn't even ask his parents about it, knowing his father's advice would be "Just walk up to her say 'Oi! I fancy you' and then put your mouth on her mouth'" (he knew this because he'd eavesdropped on his dad giving Ron a similar pep talk about Hermione).

So here he stood, twenty years old, giving himself another pep talk to just _fucking kiss her already_. And there she stood, looking beautiful as always in a deep blue v neck dress that should've been illegal. Ginny Weasley, who he had known for her entire life - people tend to exaggerate such friendships but this was absolutely true. His mother had bonded with Molly Weasley during her healer internship - where she'd helped to deliver the twin boys that would eventually serve as the ring bears in her wedding.

Since then, Lily had helped Molly deliver his best mate Ron (who was born 10 months after the Potter wedding) and then 18 months later Ron's little sister Ginny was born.

Harry had been at the Burrow when Ginny was born, and though he didn't remember the event, it was one of _**THE STORIES**_ his uncle Sirius loved to tell whenever he was feeling particularly meddlesome.

 _ **THE STORIES**_ , as Harry called him in his head, were a collection of tales told with frequency and more and more embellishment all about how Uncle Sirius believed that Harry and Ginny were destined to be together.

"You know little Prongs- from the time your barely toddling self looked at Ginny Weasley, I knew she was the one for you," he would proclaim at the beginning of each story.

This usually earned Sirius a WHACK from his mum who would always say, in a very stern and lawyerly type voice, "Leave him alone Sirius."

Harry hadn't really considered Ginny to be much more than his best friend's annoying little sister until she started Hogwarts. Therefore, until he was 16, his Uncle's comments were completely unwelcome and absolutely ridiculous. He and Ginny became honest to goodness friends themselves when she made the Quidditch team in her third year which was Harry's fourth. The team had been in need of a chaser and Ginny tried out and made the team. Fred and George had just graduated, Ron had stated "I need to focus on School this year," and Oliver Wood had demanded that at least one of the remaining Weasleys try out so Ginny did and was fantastic.

The first year on the team together they moved from " _ **being mates because we are the only children at this family event"**_ to " _ **OMG WE HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON DID WE JUST BECOME BEST MATES?! YES, WE DID."**_

Harry couldn't put a finger on when he and Ginny became best mates (second best mates according to Ron) but it happened gradually through the grueling Quidditch schedule, laughing at Ron and Hermione dancing around what was _so obvious_ and spending time going over Quidditch plays late into the night. Oliver was leaving and Harry was hopeful that he would be captain the next year. Ron and Hermione both wanted to be prefects which Harry and Ginny found absolutely deplorable.

Harry's friendship with Ginny only encouraged his Uncle Sirius more who would laugh loudly and consistently anytime Harry would say, "We're just mates!"

The summer between Harry's fourth and fifth year brought the captain's badge and lots of hours of planning the Quidditch trials with Ginny. Ron was also dragged along and they realized he was an "Absofuckinglutley Brilliant Keeper" which meant they had to threaten him to audition for the Quidditch team in the fall.

The threat, of course, was telling Hermione that he still slept with his Teddy Bear (even though it had once been a spider). The threat was successful, and Harry was happy to spend his fifth year playing Quidditch with two of his best mates and having his third best mate, Hermione, commenting.

The summer between fifth and sixth year is when Harry's trouble began.

On his sixteenth birthday, Harry's world changed forever.

Because on his sixteenth birthday he realized that Ginny Weasley was a _girl._

He'd known, of course, that Ginny was a girl. He was aware of that in a general sense. Like the way, he knew Hermione was a girl. Or his mum. Or Professor McGonagall was a girl.

But on his sixteenth birthday, when Ginny arrived wearing a sundress that was pale blue and short and freckles that were new because of summer, he realized Ginny was a _girl._

A very beautiful, funny, and athletic girl. And that he would very much like to kiss her.

Ginny, who was unaware of this realization, ran up to him and hugged him tightly, kissed him on both cheeks and said, "Happy Birthday, Harry!"

Still stunned from the realization that his best mate was a _PRETTY GIRL,_ Harry responded "Happy Birthday, Ginny."

She rolled her eyes and hit him on the back of the head. And just like that, the spell was broken, this was his best mate. His best mate Ginny. His best mate Ginny who was a very pretty girl. He was probably most likely going to die from stress.

The rest of his birthday went about the same as all the rest of his birthdays in his life. Surrounded by his friends and family. And his best mate Ginny, that he had known since she was born, that was a _very pretty girl._ A very pretty girl that he wanted to kiss.

He somehow had survived his birthday party without making an idiot out of himself and as he went to bed that night he made a resolution to kiss Ginny by the end of the year.

That New Years Eve passed without a kiss because Ginny was busy kissing Michael Corner. Harry had been on his way to find her when he was interrupted by Luna Lovegood warning him about nargles.

He resolved that the next year would be the year. He even wrote it down and counted down the days _. 364 days until I kiss Ginny Weasley, 75 days until I kiss Ginny Weasley, one week until I kiss Ginny Weasley, one hour until I kiss Ginny Weasley, one minute until I…..see Ginny Weasley kissing Nigel Babbington the IV in my own parents' home._

He was seventeen when the countdown failed. So he resolved to not really think about it, but still thought about it every day. Sometimes, when they would hug, Ginny would look at him with something he couldn't quite place and he would think "Maybe this is the moment" but then would talk himself out of it and into waiting until New Year's Eve.

When he was 18, he'd taken the day off from auror training just to make himself do it. He'd even gotten himself into Hogwarts to surprise her but when he arrived at the Gryffindor common room he saw Ginny Weasley kissing _some Hufflepuff_ and he threw the invisibility cloak over himself and went home.

Last year had been the worst, Ginny had started dating another professional Quidditch player in November so Harry had just given up. "Next year," he told himself for the what seemed like millionth time, "next year I will tell her."

And so here he stood. It was next year. And it was almost over. And there she was. Across the room talking happily with his mum and Uncle Sirius. He didn't even know he was moving until suddenly he was standing in front of them saying, "Ginny could I have a word?"

Their conversation stopped. His Uncle Sirius looked absolutely gleeful and his mother said, "Oh hello my only son I haven't seen in a month- good to see you too- don't mind me, I only birthed you and.."

"Not now, Evans, lets give these kids some privacy," Sirius said in his best lawyer voice and guided his mother away, but not before giving Harry a big wink.

Ginny looked at him expectantly and said, "Well….a word Harry?"

Suddenly Harry couldn't remember why he had come over here. Panicking, he looked around and made eye contact with Sirius who mouthed 'ASK HER TO GO ON A WALK.'

"WOULDYOULIKETOGOFORAWALK?!" Harry said trying not to hyperventilate

"Pardon," Ginny said and Harry took a deep breath.

"Would you like to get some fresh air with me, outside, on a walk?" He asked again and offered her his arm.

"I would love to, Harry."

With the hurdle eliminated, Harry and Ginny talked comfortably. They hadn't been able to spend as much time with each other since they'd both started their careers, but, like any good friendship, it was easy to fall back into their old rhythms.

They were in the middle of laughing about a particularly embarrassing case that Harry had recently worked when they heard the countdown coming from inside the house.

"10….9…..8…"

Harry stopped short, "Ginny," he started.

"7…..6….."

"Yes?" she whispered and took a step closer to him and took his hands in hers.

"Can...I….that is…..May I?... I mean…." Harry stuttered.

"4…...3…"

"Will you?" she asked, and there was that look in her eyes again. The one he had seen a multitude of times. He could never quite place it but now he knew- that it was a challenge. A challenge to just fucking do it already.

So he did. And he did it before midnight.

"2…..1"

As the cheers of "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" echoed across the yard, Harry and Ginny paid it no mind.

They had a lot of New Years Kisses to make up for.

 _Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer_

 _For us all who are gathered here_

 _And a happy new year to all that is living_

 _To all that is gentle, kind, and forgiving_

 _Raise your glass and we'll have a cheer_

 _My dear acquaintance, a happy new year_


End file.
